ORBIT™ is an algorithm created by SocialSphere to identify the 500 people most influential in discussions of Massachusetts politics on Twitter. Rank is calculated using data on number of followers, engagement levels, frequency of on-topic tweets, and re-tweet and linking pattern statistics. To qualify for the list, a user must have created three original tweets on issues related to Massachusetts politics over the last four weeks. Like many other ranking systems topicality is weighted for recency, with tweets from the past week receiving full weighting and less recent tweets receiving only a partial weight.

The talk: Politics on Twitter

Tracking the stories that the Massachusetts political community is talking about on Twitter.